What happens to Nigerians living in communities without NNPC stations? – Atiku’s aide faults 30-day petrol discount

Paul Ibe, media consultant to previous Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, has actually criticised the Federal Government’s 30-day gas cost decrease effort, arguing that it would not supply sufficient relief to Nigerians since of the restricted reach of NNPC retail outlets.

Ibe, who divulged this in a post on his X manage on Friday, stated the federal government needs to prioritise making fuel cost effective across the country instead of taking part in arguments over whether the rate decrease totaled up to an aid or a discount rate.

“Nigerians require relief, not semantics,” he stated, implicating the President Bola Tinubu administration of focusing more on terms than on dealing with the financial challenge dealt with by residents.

While inviting any real decrease in fuel costs, Ibe firmly insisted that the relief should be reasonable, available and sustainable.

He argued that the restricted geographical spread of Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) retail outlets would avoid numerous Nigerians from gaining from the effort.

According to him, Nigeria has roughly 22,681 filling stations, while NNPC runs more than 900 outlets, representing about 4 percent of the across the country retail network.

He included that NNPC’s approximated retail market share stood at 17 percent in 2024, while the business’s July 2026 report revealed fuel schedule throughout its retail network at 52 percent.

Ibe questioned how the federal government meant to provide significant across the country relief through a network with restricted protection and recorded supply obstacles.

“How does the federal government propose to supply significant across the country relief through a network with such minimal geographical protection and recorded supply difficulties?” he asked.

He likewise questioned what would occur to Nigerians residing in neighborhoods without NNPC stations, arguing that they may need to take a trip fars away and sustain extra costs to gain from the discount rate.

The previous vice-president’s assistant alerted that the plan might develop unequal access to inexpensive fuel, drawing a contrast with the electrical energy Band A, B and C category, under which customers deal with various service conditions depending upon their places and tariff classifications.

“Petrol price need to not end up being another postal code lotto,” he stated.

Ibe preserved that, despite whether NNPC surrendered its retail margin or the federal government straight subsidised customers, the effort totaled up to a recognition that market forces alone might not protect Nigerians from high fuel rates.

He argued that the administration was trying to attend to an across the country price crisis through a retail network representing just a little portion of the nation’s filling stations.

“Nigerians should have more than a 30-day experiment,” he stated.

Ibe promoted Atiku’s proposed production-based aid, which he stated would lower expenses at the point of production and enable the advantages to stream through the larger circulation network.

He argued that such a technique would provide a more sustainable method to make fuel budget-friendly throughout the nation.

“You can not resolve an across the country price crisis with a directly targeted discount rate. Nigerians require more affordable fuel all over, not less expensive fuel someplace, and definitely not for simply 30 days,” he stated.

Ibe even more implicated the Tinubu administration of returning towards what he referred to as a nontransparent aid program, regardless of its earlier position that the gas aid had actually been eliminated.